Bran the Bright
by Darashiko
Summary: There were many Brandons in history of House Stark. Few of them are remembered with moniker that set them apart from each other. This story about a Brandon who brings great change to the North with the help of his siblings.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Game of Thrones, any of its characters or any future franchise.**

**AN: This chapter has been edited.**

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_Ned,_

_I hope this letter finds you in good health. I don't want to put more words than necessary. Father has fallen ill. Our master can't find any cure for him and with each passing day his health is worsening. I fear that we are going to lose him. Come home as soon as possible. I don't know where Brandon is but a month ago he wrote from Pentos that he planned on going to Bravos before returning home. I already sent raven to lord Manderly to send a message there. Hopefully, Brandon will come back before it's too late._

_Lyanna_

Jon Arryn made arrangement for his immediate departure after Ned told the old lord about the letter. Few guards who came to Eyrie with him prepared their horses and everything else. Next morning before he left with his party, Jon and Robert came to bid him goodbye. They wished him a safe and swift journey. It might be that their wish came true. Because through all his journey in sea, wind blew strong and the ship sailed without any problem from nature or pirates. After spending almost a fortnight in the sea, a welcoming sight greeted him in white harbor.

Years ago, Lord Rickard took Bran and Ned with him on a visit to White Harbor. The neat city took Ned's breath away but for some reason Bran took in the sights with a hint of amusement in his eyes. It was as if he had seen better but still appreciated the city none the less. Few days into their stay, his brother wanted to visit Manderly's shipyard. Their father thought nothing of it. However in dinner table, Lord Manderly couldn't praise Bran enough for his intelligence.

Usually Manderlys built ships on dry land and then pushed them in White Knife. His brother gave them a better plan for a shipyard. But he didn't do it for free. As price for his work, he demanded a ship of his own. Of course he had to haggle for the price but in the end, Lord Manderly agreed to shoulder half of the cost and Lord Rickard had to pay the other half.

When Ned neared the ship, he saw men busy with unloading crates from Winter Dew, his brother's ship, and loading them on carts. Bran himself was looking over the work. It's been years since Ned saw Bran. After their visit in White Harbor, Brandon convinced their father that only place that could teach him more would be the Citadel. A year after that and a year before Ned left for Eyrie for fostering, Brandon sailed for the Citadel on his ship's maiden voyage with a handful of guards and few boys he taught to read and write.

That night, two brothers talked about their time away from their home. Bran brought a bravosi healer with him when he learned that their maester was having hard time curing their father. He wasn't ready to take over as Lord Paramount, he said. Ned wondered why his brother would say that. From early childhood, he heard Northern Lords saying that Bran was a genius. Some of them even said that they were looking forward to his reign.

Next morning, they started their journey to Winterfell after breaking their fast. Bran was never one to waste time when moving from one place to another. Days before his ship docked at White Harbor, he sent raven to Lord Manderly, asking him to hire carriages and carts ahead of time. Since Ned and Bran needed to move fast, they and a handful of guards left White Harbor on the fastest horses Lord Manderly could spare. Winter Dew's captain, a Stormlander named Davos, was charged with the duty of bringing the cargo to Winterfell. After a week of hard riding, Winterfell finally came in their sight. Worried and tired visage of Lyanna greeted them in castle's gateway.

What awaited them inside the castle made Bran look more helpless. Father was sick to the point of no recovery. Braavosi healer couldn't cure his illness. In the end, their father passed away after two days.

The funeral was a somber affair. Rickard Stark was cremated and his ash and bones were laid underneath his statue in the crypt.

After the funeral was done in the morning the day before, Brandon had locked himself in lord's solar. Only a maid had took his food to him. So when a guard told them the next morning that Bran had called all of them to his solar for breakfast, they were eager to see how their eldest brother was faring.

"Your siblings are here, milord."

"Let them in." Bran said from inside when the guard at solar's door announced their arrival.

A foreign smell invaded their sense when they entered the solar. They saw Bran drinking from a cup and the smell was coming from that cup.

"Bran, what are you drinking? It smells funny." Bran gave a tired smile at Lya's question. Whatever

"It's called coffee. I find it really helpful to keep me awake at night. You guys want some?" Lya rolled her eyes at the answer. It was just like their brother to stay awake at night to read book after book. Seeing how fast he read, their maester once said that Bran goes through books like a hot knife through butter.

"Did you get any sleep at all?"

"I will go to bed but before I do that, I need to tell you about my plan for our kingdom. Losing father was a terrible blow for us. I wanted lay ground works for some my plan while he still ruled. But look on the bright side, none of us have to marry someone from the south anymore."

"Bran, you are betrothed to Catellyn Tully, you can't just go and break a marriage contract."

"Ned, I know why father brokered this marriage for me. Few years down the line, he would've found southern matches for all of you as well. I would've gone through it because no matter what, I respected our father."

"But if he did make us marry in the south then our vassals would feel neglected."

"And if were to appease them, then we would have to make matches of our future children with their children or grandchildren which I doubt our other halves would agree to."

"So you are going to call off the wedding? You know, Lord Tully agreed to provide us grain at low price because of this contract."

"Lya, do you think I am so stupid to call off the wedding like that without having some kind of backup plan?"

"So you are somehow going to make our food shortage go away?"

"If the seeds I collected on my journey agree with our weather, then maybe before the winter comes."

"You collected seeds on your journey?" ben talked for the first time in their meeting. Among their siblings he was the least familiar with Bran. He was little more than a babe when Bran left for the Citadel. Most thing he knew about their eldest sibling is through the letters he sent home from time to time.

"I did. But I had to leave them in White Harbor. Captain Davos is bringing them. They would be in Winterfell in two weeks top." A servant's voice called from outside the door asking for permission then. "Why don't you guys take your seat? We will talk more after we are done eating."

They took their seats in front of Bran's desk. Servants soon left after setting up the foods. Bran took first few bites like he hadn't eaten in days, which was very much possible with their brother.

"Ned," bran called him after he slowed down his eating. "it might be sudden but do you think it's time to end your fostering?"

"If you need me here then I will stay here."

"Not here entirely. You have to rotate between Moat Cailin and Winterfell."

"Why does Ned need to go to Moat Cailin? That castle is a ruin."

"I know it's a ruin now but the castle holds a large tract of land. All my collected seeds usually sprouts in warmer climate and the Neck is the warmest part in our lands. Without any active Lord to look over, those lands are left untouched. When I go to Kings Landing, I will stay in the castle for few weeks and teach the crannogmen about cultivating them. And Ned can decide which parts he wants to renovate since he will be taking permanent residence there after he marries."

"Wow, Ned! You are going to have your own castle!" his sister gushed over the news. A small smile tugged at his lips. He was happy. As second, this was much better prospect than he could've hoped for. But what made him happy more than the castle is that is brother was entrusting a very important task to him. He felt goosebump thinking about the task ahead of him.

"It's not only Ned, my dear sister. You and Ben are going to have castle too."

"Me?" his sister's disbelief was understandable. Wolf blood was strong in her. But she knew she would be married off to one lord or another once their father found a proper match.

"Aye. Though you would have to take a husband. I am fine with any third or fourth son or long distant cousin of a noble house."

"You want to marry me off too. Just like father."

"Look Lya, as much as I would've liked for us to marry someone we love, we can't afford that. Our marriages are our bargaining chips. And right now, they are our only way to stop our rival from creating strong faction against us. But unlike me and Ned, you get to choose the one you will be marrying."

"Bran did you think about our matches?"

"I did. I will ask for Barbrey Ryswell's hand in marriage in coming Harvest Festival. As for Ned, Jeyne Redwater."

"Bran, House Redwater is vassal to the Boltons. What are you planning?"

"Lord Redwater married Lord Bolton's sister and Bolton line is really thin now. So if something happen to them, Redwaters will get the Dreadfort and we will gain a loyal vassal. I stayed at their castle on a trip with father when we were going to Dreadfort. What I remember from my time there, the girl is pretty to look at. If we can train her here in Winterfell, I don't think you will be disappointed."

"Bran," Benjen was looking uncomfortable hearing their brother's plan. "Do I have to listen to any of this?"

"Ben, unlike our predecessors, I have many to make our land flourish. Some of them won't take more than five or six years from now to be completed. And there are some of them that will take more than fifteen years. It's long enough, that I am sure our work will be disrupted in one way or the other. That's why I want all of to know every bit of my plan. So that if I am not here to see these plan come to fruition, there will be someone to pick up where I left off."

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Note: I was influenced in writing this story after reading **Grayjoy alla Breve**. Hope you like my story.


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